Photo By Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Woods | Command Sgt. Maj. LeVares Jackson of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry...... read more read more
TORUŃ Poland -- Newly promoted Army noncommissioned officers from every battalion in the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, convened together at Camp Destroyer, the U.S. Army training area near Torun, Poland to participate in a Noncommissioned Officer Induction Ceremony, June 13, 2019.
Roughly 50 Soldiers, all recently promoted to the rank of sergeant, represented each battalion within the 1st ABCT at an NCO induction ceremony held in their honor. The purpose of this ceremony is to recognize their transition from junior enlisted to noncommissioned officer and to welcome them into the Noncommissioned Officer Corps.
“The NCO Induction Ceremony teaches us that it’s a stepping point, we’re moving beyond being junior enlisted where we take on more responsibility,” said Sgt. Andrew Sommerfield a Combat Medic with the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st ABCT and one of the inductees at the event.
During the ceremony, the Soldiers were called upon to pass under an arch. This represented the transition from junior enlisted to the Corps of NCOs. After which, they were invited to sign the Charge of the Noncommissioned Officer which outlines their duties and responsibilities as an NCO.
“As the Soldiers come up and go underneath the arch, they kind of transform from Soldier to NCO,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Kazimier Kazimierowski, of the 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery Regiment. “Then they sign a charge to what their duties and responsibilities are. That becomes a contract with their Soldiers that they will not only lead them, but take care of them as well.”
For the Soldiers that participated, the responsibility that they are now expected to be leaders over their Soldiers was emphasized throughout the ceremony.
“When you're junior enlisted, like all of us were at one point, you see how much sergeants do and how they take care of you and that they play a part in your daily life,” said Sommerfield. “NCOs are the lifeblood of the Army.”
“When the Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. was reciting the words of the charge, they were very motivating to me,” said Sommerfield. “It made me realize what it means to be an NCO and the responsibility of taking care of Soldiers. It seemed almost like we were reenlisting by reading the charge.”
“It doesn't matter what grade you are as an NCO, we all have the same purpose and authority,” said Kazimierowski. “Seniority just has more knowledge associated with it. For those young NCOs to be welcomed into the same corps as their 1st Sergeants, their Platoon Sergeants, their Sergeant Major, it holds a lot of significance. We are the NCO Corps, not the NCO hierarchy. We are all one corps.”
The Noncommissioned Officer Corps was established on June 14, 1775 under the direction of Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, and shares the same birthday as the U.S. Army.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2019 10:28 |
| Story ID: | 327864 |
| Location: | TORUN, PL |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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